Privatisation of general insurance companies; customers face risk

Greek touch to Deccan history - Twist in Tourism

An article by Rishikesh Bahadur Desai


Helen Philon tracing the history of the Deccan from the Chalukyas to the 

Kakatiya and Ganga dynasties to a rapt audience at Bidar Fort.

Whenever a foreign tourist visits India, she is taken around the monuments by local guides. But, there was an interesting reversal of roles at Bidar Fort last week.

Helen Philon, Deccan scholar from Greece, took a team of 30 young people and a dozen history teachers on a guided tour of the monument. She explained the historical context, architectural style and its cultural significance to the rapt audience.

She was volunteering as a resource person in the guides training programme organised by the Department of Tourism, in association with the Indian Heritage Cities Network and the Deccan Heritage Foundation. Ms. Philon traced the history of the Deccan from the Chalukyas to the Kakatiya and Ganga dynasties. She explained in detail the contribution of King Allauddin Ahmed Shah and the Bahmani Wazir Mahmud Gawan.

She took the group around the Gagan Mahal and pointed out the unique green building technology adopted there and talked about the water supply system in the fort. Ms. Philon spoke about how technicians from Persia were invited to train locals in making cannons, maintaining fort walls and other works. Nargis Begum, the dowager queen of King Humayun, was an effective administrator who needs to be given credit, she said.

Raghunath Ramappa, one of the trainees, said he had learnt many new things. “I had not heard of the Russian traveller Afanasy Nikitin or the position of Mallik Altuja in the Bahmani Kingdom, or the Kakatiya influence on the fort design. We need more such programmes,” he said.

Ms. Philon said, “Programmes like this will make young people take an interest in their heritage. Once they start asking questions and clearing their doubts, they will be ready to explain historical concepts to others.”

According to Kishor Joshi, Assistant Director, Department of Tourism, “Having a knowledgeable and trustworthy guide will increase tourist footfalls. As of now, only academically inclined tourists or those who are interested in architecture visit Bidar. We want to expand this to include domestic and foreign tourists.”

Helen Philon, Deccan scholar from Greece, took a team of 30 young people and a dozen history teachers on a guided tour of Bidar Fort

This is an article reproducedd from the 'The Hindu' dated 25.2.2015 

Bharatula Hari Narayana Sarma - Symbol of Communal Harmony

Meet Hari Narayana, a dedicated priest at Hazaratdargah dargah

Bharatula Hari Narayana Sarma (60) is a dedicated priest (Muzavar) and trusted guide in a 400-year-old Sufi temple here. Everyone respects him for his commitment to communal harmony.

“If Hari is there, everything is taken care of,” says Altaf Raza, general secretary of the State Muslim Welfare Association.

Hari, with his pristine habits and thoughts, has won the hearts of all, especially the Muslim fraternity, and with dedication he spreads the concept of universal brotherhood among devotees who throng the Hazarat Syed Hussein Shahkhadhri Dargah, near Prakasam barrage here to seek the blessings of ‘Baba’.That Hari keeps the keys of the dargah brings to fore the trust and sincerity he commands from its custodians.“I do not know Urdu, and I didn’t learn verses by heart. But, I follow all rules and regulations for the upkeep of the dargah,” says the ‘priest’, who came to the dargah long ago.

In fact, Hari uses his fluency in Telugu to quell the doubts of Hindu devotees.

Well! How Hari got associated with the dargah? “I was working for a shamiyana company, which downed shutters after its owner’s death. I joined a grocery shop that supplied provisions to the dargah in a pushcart. I used to sleep on it [the push cart] in the nights near Brahmin Street,” he recollects.

“Moved by my plight, Muttavalli Syed Anwar [custodian of the dargah] asked me to sleep in the dargah, and thus I started my long association with this Sufi temple,” says Hari.

Gradually, Hari began to learn the traditions of Islam. He also conducts ‘Fateha’ and listens to the grievances (‘dua mangna’) of devotees. He ties the holi thread (‘taweez’) to the new vehicles which are lined up before hitting the road.

The above is an article appeared in news paper 'The Hindu' of 22.2.2015. As it concern communal harmony, I thougght of reproducing the same.

Why Opinion Polls or Pre election polls are to be banned?

Opinion Polls or Pre election polls

There is a heated discussion going on in political circles. The topic of whether opinion polls or Pre-polls is to be banned has suddenly became a hot topic now. The reason for the sudden interest is that the main party of the Ruling UPA has expressed its opinion in favour of the ban to the Election Commission (EC).  As is the usual practice in India, whenever the ruling party makes a statement on any subject, the main opposition party the BJP has t come out with statements opposing the same attributing for some motive to the decision of the main Ruling party.  In this issue of whether opinion polls or Pre-polls is to be banned the reason attributed to the ruling party by the opposition is that the pre poll surveys all show a sliding of opinion against it and is afraid of the results being affected by these polls in the coming elections to the Assembles of 5 States due.

Without going to the politics of it, let us consider the issue. Why there should be any opinion polls or Pre-polls are to be done when the people are going t the polls within about 2 months time. The people will express their opinion through the actual elections. The opinion polls are not very scientific as is it s not even a random sample of the real polls. The opinion polls are done on selected pockets spread over the state or country which may not be even 5% of the electorates involved.  There is a chance of the political parties trying to influence the agencies conduction the opinion or pre polls. Though this exercise may not affect the real elections, but still there is a possibility of it influencing the voters and may become like an exercise to influence the voters in favour or against a party. If it happens this is not good for a free and fair election. 

Now let us take some of the opinion or pre polls conducted earlier.  In case of the General Elections to the parliament let us see the opinions through the pre polls and the actual results after elections. In 2004 ‘Most analysts believed the NDA WOULD WIN THE ELECTIONS; THIS ASSESSMENT WAS ALSO SUPPORTED BY OPINION POLLS’. Though PRE-POLL PREDICTIONS were FOR an OVER WHELMING MAJORITY FOR THE BJP, the exit polls (immediately after the elections and before the counting began) PREDICTED A HUNG PARLIAMENT. However, even the exit polls could only indicate the general trend and nowhere close to the final figures.  In the results of real elections the Congress party came as the largest single party and with its allies had comfortable majority. IN 2009 the ANALYSIS on “Most opinion polls conducted by major agencies GAVE UPA an EDGE OVER NDA, but none has predicted to get absolute majority”. But the UPA GOT MORE than the prediction.  In the 2009 election results the UPA came out successfully with 80 seats more than 2004. The above indicate that the analysis & opinion polls do not reflect the correct position.

Now let us take the cases of the Assembly polls:

Uttarakhand polls: Survey a shot in Khanduri’s arm

“Tuesday morning Uttarakhand woke up to a pre-poll survey giving BJP an edge and another term. In Gopeshwar, excitement on the survey began within minutes of Khanduri's public rally. The actual election results show that BJP won in 31 seats and Congress in 32.

Himachal Pradesh: 

“While the contest is bound to be a closely fought one, the BJP can take comfort from the survey which shows that the pro-incumbency sentiment is stronger than anti-incumbency, though not by a wide margin. While 40 per cent of those surveyed were willing to give the BJP government of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal another chance, 34 per cent were against it. But the election result is BJP got 26 seats and Congress 36 seats.

 Uttar Pradesh results of Pre or Opinion Polls and the actual results:

 In UP the survey result was Congress + RLD - 94; BJP - 57; SP - 127; BSP - 108. The Election results show: Congress + RLD - 37; BJP - 47; SP - 224; BSP - 80.

Gujarat State

 BJP was projected to get 129-141 seats and the Congress to get 37 to 45 as per the opinion or pre election poll survey.   The actual results are 115 for BJP and Congress 61 seats.

Punjab State

As per pre poll or opinion poll the Congress was projected as having an edge over BJP + SAD. As per the pre polls Congress was to get 69 seats and the BJP + Sad was to get 40. When the election results came out the Congress secured only 46 and the alliance of BJP and SAD got 68.

The above data prove that the opinion polls and analysis are futile exercises which create unnecessary anxiety and bitterness to most of the parties and followers.  The people of the states and country are also put to unnecessary gossips and speculations etc. It is quite possible that the results may influence the voting citizen and there is also possibilities of unscrupulous parties trying to have stage managed Opinion Polls, Why Pre election survey polls. Hence the Opinion Polls or Pre election survey polls should be banned. 

THE PRICE RISE IS A MAJOR CONCERN FOR ALL.

However, the effect of the same is mainly confined to the lower and upper middle class.

The rich class do not have problem of the price rise as they pass on the burden to the market as they are mostly in business or trade. The poor class's main need is food. They get the main food items like the pulses at a very cheap rate of Rs 2/- or even free in some states. The balance amount of their income is available of  their daily necessitates. Their necessities are also limited. Any way if the prices are stabilized, this group can improve their living standard.

If we observe over a period of 2 - 3 years we can observe that the prices rise on the once hand and on the other we find that the farmers in trouble of not getting enough support prices for their produce. This anomaly is because of the middlemen hording the commodities and release the same in such a way that they can make huge profits. This profit is accumulated as black money and is ploughed back into the market to further horde the commodities. It is a vicious circle.

Who is to regulate the supply and demand? The Government of course. They are not in a position as they have to do things in such a way to get elected the next time. They have to adopt a strategy to retain, if not increase the vote base, and to counter the opposition's strategy. In between this there is the position of dependence on regional parties for support as no single party gets majority. This dependence make it difficult for the major parties to take any firm steps.

Even the public organizations like the anti corruption movement of Anna Hazare is only a fooling program of the public. The real issue is a corruption free Governance. Is it possible by having one more institution like the Lok pal to eliminate the corruption? Corruption is a mental attitude of each person and this becomes the collective as far as the nation is concerned. The Lok pal or any other new institution will be like the existing institutions like the C A G, C V C, C B I, Enforcement Directorate etc. Immediately for a few months it may be effective. After that this also will be like its predecessors. Then another Hazare has to come and fool the public to contain their resentment.

What is really required is correction of the mental attitude. What is the way for the change?

One way is for the spiritual organizations to co-ordinate with each other and have a common program to arise the attitude of followers. Since around 95% of the spiritual institutions suffer from the same attitudinal deficiency, they cannot do any service to the nation.

The other way is the communist method. This method in theory, is to produce for the nation and distribute according to need. This method is most impractical as it involves a dictatorial way of enforcement. No human being wants to be dictated. If dictation was tried, it may succeed for a very short time but it will be overthrown at the earliest available opportunity. We have the examples of USSR, East European countries and China. In China it is still prevalent in a truncated form.

The what is the remedy? The remedy lies in each of us. We should go for self development. We should, individually stick to the principles and try to persuade by discussions with our family members, neighbors and friends so that it become a different type of mass movement. Once we do this irrespective of what happens around us, this movement will become strong as majority of the people of the population is good. Once the majority become effectively good, the persons standing elections will be good and the government elected will be good and the governance will be good and the condition in the country will be good. To me this is the only way out.

Age controversy of Army Chief General V K Singh

General V K Singh presently the Chief of Army Staff is involved in a date of birth controversy. He himself has given his date of Birth as 10 May 1950 in his application for admission to the National Defence Academy (NDA). On the basis of the age recorded in the application to NDA the Military Secretary branch recorded his date of birth as 10-5-1950. The records in Adjutant General (AG) Branch of the Indian Army, which is the official record keeper of the army, show Singh's date of birth as 10 May 1951 on the basis of a certificate from the 14th Rajput Regiment's officer certifying that Vijay Kumar Singh (V K  Singh) was born on 10-5-1951 as per the service record of V K Singh's father who was in the military service at Khadki in Pune of Maharashtra as a Major at that time.According to V K Singh, he had repeatedly asked for the correction of the records. According to V K Singh, he made a mistake of D O B in the application submitted by him as 1950 and he wanted the same to be corrected to 1951. This would have availed 1 more year of service in the Military. The Military Secretary branch quoted rules against change if age mentioned in the application form.

General V K Sing approached the Minister of Defence in 2011 to get the date of birth changed to 1951 in the Military Secretary branch records. The Defense Minister preferred to rely on the D O B as 1950 instead of 1951. Thereafter the General appealed to the Minister to reconsider the decision on the age which was rejected by the Minister. The General went to the Supreme Court of India (S C) against the decision of the minister. The S C noted that there was no dispute on the actual date of birth but the matter was as how it was recorded. The S C has also noted that Mr V K Singh has accepted the 1950 date on 3 occasions and refused to intervene in the matter. On 10-2-2012 Mr Singh withdrew his petition filed in the court on the above finding s of the court. Incidentally this is the 1st time an Officer of that high rank went to Court in the Military establishment.It is really a shame that the General took advantage of the date of Birth of 1950 on 3 occasions during his career and at the fag end of the service he wants advantage under the other date of birth also.

The bribe issue raised by General V K Singh at this juncture gives an impression that he wanted to create trouble for not giving him the benefit of the age rectification. This almost looks like a virtual blackmail from a Person of such a high rank. It is a very sad state of affairs for the country. The General should have been sacked as per the leaders of JD (U), S P and RJD.  .

President Smt Prathibha Patil should not appear to be looting the Country

As per the information the tour of the present President of India Smt Prathibha Patil Shekhavat so far is about Rs 205 crores. She has traveled for 79 days in 22 countries. For a country with mil.lions of poor people struggling to get 2 square meals a day, this type expenses are to be curtailed. She being the Number one citizen of the country has a great responsibility to set example to others. While she has to keep up the prestige of the Nation on tours, she can ponder as to whether the tour is absolutely essential. On essential tours she should ponder whether the expenses incurred for her trips were essential. Is it necessary for her to take so many relatives on foreign tours? Would she have taken so many relations on personal trips or spend so much money on her personal trips?

She has the distinction of being the first woman President of India and created a good impression on her maiden inauguration of the Joint session of Parliament. She is now having only about another 6 months time left. At least during these 6 months President Smt Prathibha Patil should try to remove the impression of an extravagant person when the expenses are to be incurred by the Government. As the first citizen of the country let us hope that she tries to set an example during the remainder of her tenure in view of the fact that our country is one with large number of poor people.

The Prime Minister and  Finance Minister should bring in some moderation of the expenses of the Ministers and the Government officials going abroad on official trips and drastically reduce the expenses. irrespective of whichever party rules at the Center or States the foreign tours are taken for granted and is considered as perks to the concerned. This attitude should be changed.

article hostgator coupon

Retirement age, Corruption, Army Chief and the Defence Ministry

 This is an article on the sordid episodes of the feud between the Defense Ministry and the  Army Chief General V K Singh and the attempt to sensationalize the issues by the General.

Since some time the relation between the current Army Chief Gen V. K. Singh and the Defense Ministry. It started with the retirement age issue of the resent Army chief. He had given 2 sets of birth certificate to the Government, one at the time of recruitment and another one subsequently. As per teh certificates the date of birth's are May 10, 1951 and another May 10, 1950. The Military Secretary branch recorded his date of birth as 10 May 1950 basing the application submitted by V K Singh to the National Defence Academy. On the verge of retirement the General raked up the issue and went to the Supreme Court, and dragged the Defense Ministry, for Justice.He lost this legal battle of his contention of "prejudice" and "perversity" against him by the Ministry. The bench of S C which heard the case observed that 'The bench said "no prejudice" was done to General Singh and there was "no perversity" or gross error in recognizing his date of birth as May 10, 1950'. He is decent enough not to attribute the judgement as a collusion.

This incident is an indicator of the type of person the General V. K. Singh is. He is the highest officer after the titular head of the defense forces, The President of India. Just for the sake of 1 more year of service was it worthwhile on his part to rake up the controversy?


Now the General V. K. Singh has raked up another controversy. He has alleged that one officer in the defense force has approached him with a bribe of Rs 14 crores for finalizing a deal of purchase of vehicles of the defense establishment. It is ridiculous and preposterous for the General to get  the news splashed in the ever obliging impudent media to make it a sensational issue on the eve of his retirement so that he gets the publicity for free. If what he say is true what kind of officer he is? As the boss of the defense establishment he should have immediately taken action against his own subordinate who had the temerity to offer bribe to him and then he should have rushed to the media with the action initiated. Is it not a reflection on his character. In his 'sensational exposure' of corruption he has stated that he reported this matter to the defense mintier. What prevented him from initiating action against the briber instead of oral complaint to the minister. He should have initiated action against the official concerned or passed on a message to the defense department concerned which is supposed to look into the matter and take suitable action. The concerned department is right under the General.


Such types of persons were there earlier, are there now and will be there in future also as long as the political parties behave as of now. The political parties in India have only two principles depending on whether they are on the side of Ruling the country or in Opposition camp. The parties in ruling side are expected to defend their stand and the opposition parties for opposing irrespective of the merit or the effect on the Nation. Both the sides do not exist to work unitedly on the important issues of poverty eradication, corruption, speedy justice to people and transparent administration etc. The Opposition parties have taken up the matter of General against the Government and are making a ruckus of the same. Every stick is good enough to beat the opponent. 


However, it is a good thing that the Defense Minister has ordered a CBI inquiry. I strongly feel that the issues of such people who are on the verge of retirement should be handle with care. Just because a stick is in hand should not be used to beat. It will only encourage such persons in future and leading to indiscipline and opportunism in services which will be adverse for administration.


It is very much to be regretted that the media which is supposed to be 4th limb of the institution of democracy is functioning like 5th columnists or yellow journalists. Watching the media will give an impression that the media is only to sensationalize the issues rather than helping to expose the ills of the society. The media assumes that whatever they feel correct is correct and all others should fall in line. They have a preliminary obligation to find out the merits at least prima facie instead of rushing to publicize issues. On every issue of the nation each channel wants to show they are the first to bring out the news even if it is a matter like the urination or going to stool of the person/s they consider as somebody.  Of course they or the Generals or the political parties or the social activists are not to be blamed as we get only what we deserve.

article hostgator coupon

Anti Corruption Agitations

Anti Corruption Agitation:

Meaning of Corruption:

According to Webster’s Dictionary Corruption means impairment of integrity, virtue or moral principle, depravity, decay, decomposition, inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means, a departure from original or what is pure or correct and bribery. Now if we apply these meanings to us, who are corrupt and who are not? According to Bhagavath Geetha moral corruption is the greatest corruption. However let us forget the broad aspect of corruption and confine to the bribery which is agitating the minds of all including those who are agitating the corruption.

Corruption is a serious evil in the society.

It is an evil that exists from the time of civilisation and was being fought from that time till now and will continue till human race exist in any level of understanding except when everyone become self realised. The fight against corruption is of utmost importance, as it will check the speed of engulfing the moral fiber of the nation. Each of us should introspect individually and come to the right conclusion before jumping into an emotional excitement of the issue and happenings of the present time.

Various approaches of fighting:

Subramaniam Swamy, Ram Jethmalani and few other RTI activists started the present fight by filing cases against the supposed corrupt acts of individual leaders. Subramanian Swamy started it first against the present C M of Tamilnad for the acts of corruption during her previous tenure. Subsequently she was defeated in the next elections and the DMK came to power. Later Swamy started cases against persons of DMK. The cases against Jayalalitha are being allowed to die a slow death.

Anna Hazare:

Later Anna Hazare started his fight against corruption by fast for compelling the Government to introduce the Lokpal bill and to get it passed in Parliament by Aug, 2011. He started the fast at the right time, when the people of the country were tired of the rising prices of all essential commodities, raising of prices of petroleum many times within short intervals, coming across cases after cases of various corruption like the CWG, 2G, CVC appointment, HRC and Government’s resistance against the JPC, a batch of cases of sexual assault and murders in various parts of the country, Naxal attacks and the terrorist attacks in Kashmir etc. The people felt that the Government is thoroughly useless, powerless and incompetent. So the action of Anna Hazare caught up the imagination of a large number of people all over the country. His hunger strike was very effective. Seeing this, many opportunists, disgruntled elements and those who want quick name and fame joined his band and became vociferous. The government woke up from its slumber or was rudely shaken and they engaged in discussion with the Hazare group and agreed to have their representatives also in the draft panel of the Lokpal bill. The agitation was lifted. The negotiation is going on till now.

Ramdev’s fight:

By that time another agitation by Baba Ramdev was announced. He included the issue of bringing back the black money also with corruption to be fought and fixed the date for hunger strike with hundreds of his followers. The media which was covering the Subramaniam Swamy's fight dropped him into the cold, went behind Anna Hazare when his agitation started and when Ramdev was getting support, the media friends dropped Anna and company and came behind Ramdev in full swing. Anna and his group found themselves in an unenviable situation of the ground slipping from under their feet and completely sidelined. The situation was such that even they had to declare that they fully support Ramdev and they will en mass join the movement of Ramdev. Anna Hazare announced that he will join the Ramdev hunger strike.

The Government laid a red carpet for Anna group and included their representatives in the draft panel for drafting Lokpal bill. Subsequently the Central Ministers, 4 of them, including the number 2 in the Government and the main ruling party went to the Airport to receive Ramdev. It gave an impression that the Government is rattled and badly shaken. Or was it a clever plot of the Government to divert the attention of people from Anna Hazare's agitation? Anyway, the discussions went on between Government and Ramdev for arriving at a common draft. It appears that after seeing the media cover and glare, the Government’s buckling down and Anna Hazare group’s climbing on to his bandwagon, the support from BJP and RSS etc went to his head and Ramdev started behaving erratically. Since the Government was already pushed to the wall and cannot go beyond, might have decided to fight back and crack down on Ramdev and company. The midnight past operation is too well-known and fresh for any repetition. This time they decided wisely and decisively. If it was during the day time, it would have been very violent and would have turned bloody and ugly. They could manage almost smoothly except for the injuries of about 50-60 persons from both sides together with only one seriously suffering. Ramdev got panicky and was incoherent afterwards. That is the only act the Government did properly on the whole episode so far.

Ramdev Fiasco:

After the mid night operation against Ramdev, the Hazare camp came into limelight again and started behaving like the champions of defending Ramdev and declared another agitation by them against the alleged high handedness of the Government against Ramdev's agitation. They thought that the public excitement will continue in favour of Ramdev and can take advantage of it. Hazare and his camp were comparing the Government action against Ramdev to that of the Jalianwalabag massacre by the British Empire. It is quite possible to understand the followers of Anna Hazare talking like that as many of them are in his bandwagon for fame, name and quick power. But Hazare himself speaking like that is unfortunate. The same Anna group which compared the Ramdev as Jalianwalabag martyr and wanted to climb on to the bandwagon of Ramdev is now criticizing, accusing and denigrating the Baba. He has now become a hot potato to be dropped.

Anna Hazare, of course is far better than most of the present known leaders of our country. At least he has not indulged in any major corruption, manipulation or malpractice. Instead he is working to develop his village into a near model village and is on the way of expanding the model to other nearby places. He has lived a model life of honesty, frugality and has spurned the chances of making fast money till now. That does not justify him to do whatever he feels. According to me Hazare is fighting, if his public utterances are to be taken at face value, for anarchy and dictatorship. Because according to him there should be an all powerful Lokpal to inquire into allegations, decide on allegations and punish on allegations with power over everybody including the Prime Minister, parliament members, all executives and all judges. Who will be the person/s in the Lokpal? The people selected for that purpose from amongst us. Who will select the Lokpal members? People selected from amongst us. Who are to be fought against corruption? People from amongst us. According to Hazare Group all the existing institutions are useless and an effective one has to be made. In effect the Lokpal will become the Super cop to complain, inquire, charge, try and punish. Who will check their activity? No one. In this context let us remember the observation made by Lord Aton that “Power Corrupts and absolute Power corrupts absolutely”. Granting that what his group has proposed is good and implemented, is it not paving the way for others to follow suit by doing what they want by collecting a large group of people around and pressurizing the Governments. Will it not amount to pressurizing or coercing and hoodwinking the government, opposition and the people of the country? I feel that whatever is to be done should be done in the established way. If the established system of debate is obsolete, we should work for the change of the system. We should not shortcut to make our idea work. At the moment, ours is a democratic system and we should introduce anything through the democratic process only.

Our Democratic set up:

Probably the founders of our democracy wanted that no single point should become the sole power point in our country. The power should be distributed between different wings of Administration namely the Legislators, the Judiciary, the Executives and the free press. They have observed the goings on around our country and the world, of powerful persons mostly from military toppling the democratic Governments and imposing dictatorships. Even now the struggle against dictatorship is going on in some countries. By making the Lokpal an all powerful single point authority we are paving the way for that situation indirectly. Even for natural justice the authority investigating should be different from that of judging and that of executing so that the mistake of anyone could be checked by the other two.

Corruption Fighting Mechanisms:

In the beginning when we were having the Rajas they had their force to check any undesired activities including the corruption. Even these autocrats did not take decisions without consulting their advisers and without trial and giving chance to the accused. After that the police came into existence. They were having unbridled authority and were dreaded. They were tyrannical and became corrupt. Because of the atrocities the police had to be reined. When police became ineffective, other forces were brought in to curb undesirable activities including corruption, like the CBI, IB, Raw, CVC, CAG etc. As per the Anna Hazare Group the Government is ineffective, the judiciary is ineffective, the executive is ineffective, and the media is ineffective. They are the only effective people, representing the nation without having to get elected, only honest people and only they have the monopoly to decide what is good for the nation, who are good and honest etc. They want the Lokpal as they dictate. Will it solve the problem? Perhaps immediately for some time it may be possible that the Lokpal may be as effective as was the police, CBI, CVC, CAG etc in the beginning. Later on Lokpal will also fall into the same groove and will be much worse as it has all the power at its hand. At that time some other group has to take up the cause and another force is to be introduced to deal with the problem of the Lokpal. But the way in which the Lokpal is proposed will create more problem than it solves as it will be like an unbridled power center which can play havoc with the lives of those who come in its way or whom the Lokpal want harass, intimidate and punish. Here the investigators of cases, presenters of the cases, arguers of the cases, judges of the cases and punishers of the cases are one and the same. In fact they will be remote controlling all the activities of the Government. The Legislative wing, judicial wing, executive wing and the media in fact every activity in the country will be under the uncontrolled control of the proposed Lokpal of Hazare Group. Just have a look at the members of the self appointed guardians of the nation who according to themselves are the cream of intelligence and honesty and are in the Lokpal drafting panel. Anna Hazare is a true representative of common man. Apart from him, it includes a father and son duo. Is it that only these two are the topmost eminent legal luminaries in the country, to be included as a pair? Then we have some disgruntled retired persons who are’ the sole honest and upright persons’ in the country. If the support of a few thousands of people assembled in media rooms, or tweeting/face booking or E-mailing or sending SMS from cell phones can make the people so arrogant, there is no wonder about the arrogancy of the Government and Opposition parties as they were elected by crores of people. Let us remember that only around 5 to 10% of the population is having the facility of assembling in media rooms, tweeting, facebooking, e-mailing or smsing. That is only a microscopic minority of the population.

What is required to take care and prevent corruption is a system not only to fight corruption as and when it occurs, but also one to prevent if possible or at least reduce the chances as far as possible. This can be achieved to some extent by having a reform of administration by making it as transparent as possible. Those who had the experience of booking or rail tickets, obtaining/renewing of driving licenses and registrations of property (in some states at least) etc in the earlier years will remember the level of corruption and anarchy in those fields before computerization and making it transparent as of now. Similar methods suitable to the other departments should be introduced so that the chances of manipulation are reduced and hence the chances of corruption are reduced. There is a say that “prevention is better than cure”. As mentioned earlier we are having a system of checks of abuse of power or position by having multi layer of division of power. The S C strictures on Government are proof and at one time few months back, when the S C overstepped its limit, the parliament checked it.




Therefore what is required is to improve the functions of the present institutions like the crime branch of police, CBI, RAW, IB, CAG, PAC and JPC etc by giving them more powers and personal for faster investigations of more number of cases, setting up of more number of exclusive special courts etc so that the investigations are speeded up, presentation of the cases are speeded up, trial and orders of the cases are speeded up and the execution is speeded up. This itself will help to reduce the crimes considerably. A new agency similar to the existing ones like the proposed Lokpal to cover the fields not covered by the existing institutions only is needed as an additional institution. It is to be remembered that even if a 1000 culprits escape, not a single innocent should be punished.

Positive Stand by all:

At present what is required is a positive approach from the Government, the opposition parties, the State Governments, the Civil Liberty Movements and the public at large. The Government should now forget its ego and approach the opposition and the state governments with a draft for the Improvement of the existing institutions, and the proposed Lokpal bill (to cover all wings of the Government upto the lowest level in the village, the corporate, companies, professionals, freelancers, media persons, social activists, RTI activists, in fact everyone in the country) along with their blue print for bringing back the stashed black money, a onetime chance to convert the black money in the country with a penalty and punishment and take into consideration of the opinions of all the organisations who are interested in the well being of our country. These suggestions should be discussed by the Parliament and come to a consensus not only on the issue of the Lokpal bill, measures to prevent corruption, bringing the black money stashed outside to be brought on urgent basis, on the proper function of the Government, of the Opposition and of the organisations for proper rule of law, order and justice, administrative reforms, upholding the democratic set up of our country within a time frame. If the Government can spread a red carpet to the civil librettists and the like of Ramdevs, why it is not possible for it to discuss with the opposition parties also and arrive at a consensus. After all they have to participate in the parliament in the debate. Since everyone is supposed to have the interest of the country in the mind, consensus will not be a problem

Conclusion:

For the above objective the Government should come down from its pedestal of arrogance and have sincere and serious dialogue with the opposition parties; the opposition parties should forget about only opposing the Government and co-operate with the Government; the public NGOs should guide the public without any pride, prejudice or ulterior motives to see that our country becomes the finest one in the world.

article hostgator coupon